Guardian Angel Division
by TaylorGibbs
Summary: Kate Todd had always caught Chris Pacci's eye. Written for the Numbers challenge for the NavyNCISFF list.


Spoilers for One Shot, One Kill, Bete Noire, Dead Man Talking, Twilight

Chris Pacci looked up as the elevator dinged and tried to hide his smile. It was zero seven hundred and the last member of Gibbs' team was almost late. Almost being the operative word. This time it wasn't DiNozzo for a change, he'd been in early since the thing with the Marine sniper. Pacci and Tony had a few beers last night and Tony'd admitted that he was still guilty that he wasn't able to be more active in the case. Pacci knew Tony was questioning his place on the team. He had no doubt Tony would be smugly satisfied to get one over on Kate.

Three times now, the newest agent had taken a larger role than DiNozzo and Tony'd wanted to chat. Which had consisted of Chris listening and Tony talking to all out. Tony was a good guy, even though a lot of people found him to be pretty one note. He and Chris weren't best buddies on any level, but Chris had been friends with both Gibbs and DiNozzo, helping them out whenever they needed an extra hand before Blackadder and then Todd had arrived. Of everyone at NCIS, he was closest to them.

Speaking of Special Agent Kate Todd…

Chris watched her stride out of the elevator, all poise and attitude. She was very different from the other agents here, not that there were any he'd ever heard of who came from the Secret Service. She'd guarded President Bush after all. Why she'd come to NCIS after that he didn't know. He'd asked Tony, but even DiNozzo didn't know and nobody'd been willing or able to convince Abby to try to figure it out for them.

Today she was wearing a dark blue sweater and black dress pants. She even had pearls on. Chris had seen enough, had watched her enough, to know she was an interesting blend of modern and old-fashioned. A little prissy for their business but one thousand percent the lady.

For some crazy reason, she ignored DiNozzo's attempts at flirtation, slapping him down sometimes gently and sometimes firmly. Chris had watched her take calls from various men but she didn't have that smile on her face or twinkle in her eye that would indicate that she had anyone serious.

Chris buried himself in a cold case file, listening to the banter with half an ear. Gibbs had been much worse since the terrorist thing in autopsy, he was riding his team harder than ever. Kate seemed to be taking it pretty well, but then again she was fairly cool under pressure.

The more he observed her from afar, the more he liked what he saw. He didn't have the natural leadership abilities and charisma of a Gibbs or the charm of Ducky or even the brass balls of DiNozzo, but he was his own man, an NCIS agent for eight years now and de facto leader of the cold case division essentially since its inception. It didn't have the glamor or the results of the Major Case Response Team, but it was something he was good at. He closed, on average, eight cold cases a year. Eight families had answers they'd longed for. And that made the job worth it.

He knew Kate Todd was out of his league, but he couldn't help being interested and wanting to try. When she started toward the elevator, mentioning something about lunch, he followed, slipping in just before the doors closed. He tried desperately to make eye contact, but her body language and posture were closed off, her eyes averted.

He sighed inwardly, feeling like the invisible man.

Fourteen months later, Chris Pacci saw Kate again, looking lost, alone, bewildered. He walked over to her, touching her arm. She was in such a deep state of shock that she didn't even flinch, letting him lead her to a comfortable overstuffed couch.

"I wish I hadn't had to see you here so soon," he remarked sadly.

"Where am I?" Kate questioned. It was a normal response. Chris had seen this happen again and again in his time here.

"Kate, do you know who I am?" he asked gently.

She turned to look at him—to really look at him—and big fat tears rolled down her face. "Special Agent Chris Pacci. But you're…dead. That man Tony tongued killed you. Oh my God…Oh my God! Am I…?"

He nodded sadly, wrapping her in his arms and depositing a kiss on the top of her head, every protective instinct rearing up inside him. "I'm sorry, Kate. You are."

She pulled back and rubbed her chest. "What happened? I had a vest on. I was shot but I had a vest on."

Chris was surprised and impressed to see that the tears had already stopped, clearly a momentary weakness that she managed to control in her quest for answers. He'd never worked with her but knew that she must have been a hell of an agent and this just proved it.

"The sniper took one more shot and it was fatal." He'd seen it all go down, even if he'd been helpless to stop it.

"Where?" she asked. He brushed a fingertip over her forehead and she closed her eyes, nodding. "Okay. Fast then… She stared into his eyes. "How are my family doing…and the team?"

He wished he had more answers for her. Standing, Chris led her to a small window, gesturing out where a soaked McGee and DiNozzo were talking with Gibbs. "The team is not so good. I've been trying to watch out for them, doing what I can. Gibbs might call it his gut instinct but I know its more than that."

She looked so sad for a moment and Chris knew he couldn't tell her that he'd been so busy saving McGee that he'd missed saving her. She could never know that it was his failure that caused her death.

Kate nodded, pulling herself up tall. "Well, you have a partner, Special Agent Pacci. Special Agent Kate Todd reporting for service, NCIS Guardian Angel Division."


End file.
